Politics

Elizabeth Warren’s ‘dream blunt rotation’? The Rock times four, she says

The Democratic senator answered the tongue-in-cheek question during a interview with the podcast Pod Save America.

Jacquelyn Martin

By Emily Spatz

2 minutes to read

In a wide-ranging interview touching on topics like the 2024 presidential election, the Israel-Hamas war, and legalization of marijuana, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren enthusiastically revealed her “dream blunt rotation”: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson four times over. 

As she made a guest appearance on the Pod Save America podcast, host Jon Favreau ended an interview with Warren by asking her an “important” question — who she’d like to light up with. Warren had to choose four people from a list of 10 that would be her “dream blunt rotation,” or “a group of people you’d hypothetically like to smoke weed with because they’d be a really fun time,” as Favreau put it. 

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“This has nothing to do with weed,” Warren joked after laughing at the question. “It’s just who do you think is fun? These are people you’d go get pedicures with.”

Favreau started by listing off President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Mass. Senator Ed Markey before getting to Johnson.

“Oh, The Rock. I’m stopping there. I’m doing The Rock four times,” Warren said. 

Following Johnson on the list were Nancy Pelosi, rapper Snoop Dogg, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and pop star Taylor Swift. Even with all her options, Warren stuck with her original choice. 

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Warren has long been a fan of the businessman and actor, nicknamed “The Rock” during his wrestling career. In a 2019 interview with Entertainment Weekly, she said she enjoyed the show “Ballers” because it had Johnson in it. And in season 5 of the show, Johnson is seen reading Warren’s 2017 book “The Fight Is Our Fight.”

Warren looking to decriminalize marijuana

Before the conversation took a lighthearted turn, Warren discussed her advocacy to remove marijuana from the list of Schedule I drugs within the Controlled Substances Act. The Democratic senator and several colleagues sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administrator (DEA) at the end of January urging the federal government to “swiftly deschedule marijuana.”

The move would decriminalize marijuana entirely on the federal level, which Warren said can be done through the DEA without the approval of Congress. 

“Right now, marijuana is a Schedule I drug, which means it’s scheduled right up there with heroin and cocaine,” Warren said. “That means it has already been proven — this is supposed to be the case before it gets Schedule I — that it has no medicinal value, no help to anyone under any circumstances.”

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Warren said she would still support regulations around marijuana use, such as age restrictions and certain disclosures.

“I would tell the DEA, “Guys, c’mon, it’s not 1958! We don’t need to be terrified of this stuff,” Warren said. 

At the end of the podcast, which aired Monday for President’s Day, Favreau also asked Warren to name her “nightmare blunt rotation,” or the “worst group of people imaginable” to smoke marijuana with. 

Favreau named businessman Elon Musk, Florida Sen. Ted Cruz, Chair of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell, entrepreneur and former Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, and former Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson, among others, as her options. 

Warren motioned with her hand that she didn’t want to answer the question. 

“I’m starting to feel a little sick,” she joked. “That is really awful to contemplate.”

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